Cruise Line Refunds

Neil49

Surfhopper said:

One of TUI disgruntled clients unable to get a cash refund, contact them or get them to answer emails or letters. Made claims to my insurance company and credit card company, but find myself in a merry-go-round with each of them suggesting I contact the other two. TSB travel insurance already rejected my claim, Tesco Bank giving automated advice. The TUI holiday was a Marella Cruise, we are both aged over 70 with no prospect of rebooking in the foreseeable future. Why can't TUI be MADE to issue refunds.

News reports at the end of April said that TUI had around 900,000 holiday cancellations to sort out. Since then they have had to cancel many more.

All you can do is keep on trying to get through by phone but be prepared for a long wait. 

minorman

Well, success.  The refund was sent on 16th March to one of my wife's accounts. As she is now at home we were able to collate all her statements. Unfortunately it did not show up on the statements due to some weird accounting by Barclays.  On this account the money went out and was later transferred back so Barclays systems decided not to record the out amount and then the in amount as it was the same amount.  Got that ?  Oh well. FOCL seem to have done as they promised. Job closed.

Life__Goes__On

Good to hear MM

badger09

crustyoldgit said:

badger09 said:

UPDATE
Refund claimed 21st March
Deposit refunded to husband's current account 5th May (original payment card had expired) 
Balance (over £5k) appeared in my Barclaycard Cashback transaction late last night 11th, credited 5th. I've asked for it to be sent to my current account.

FOCL have now changed their refund process. Initially they would only refund to original payment card. Now they will pay to a nominated bank account. Don't know whether this will speed things up or not, but at least they are making refunds eventually.

Badger, delighted to learn you've got your money back!  I'm trying to work out what is actually happening in FO Towers (or should that be FOulty Towers). My understanding is your cruise was supposed to be 29th March, you submitted a claim 21st March, got a refund invoice 9th April and payment 9th May. My cruise was 24th April, I claimed 16th March, refund invoice 16th April and still waiting. From this it looks like the pecking order is cruise date with settlement a month after refund invoice. My theory will be proved if I get my money back in the next 7 days so watch this space!

Sorry, only just found this thread again as it had slipped several pages.

FOC actually sent our refunds (from their bank) on 5th May. Husband's part was in his account same day, mine took until 11th to appear on my Barclaycard, though date was shown as 5th. Money was back in my current account on 13th. I don't think your theory is necessarily correct as I've seen a post ages ago from someone who received refund before their cruise was even due to sail.

For me, the most frustrating part was not being able to contact FOC and not even getting auto response to some emails, so left wondering if info had even been received. HOWEVER, they do seem to be working through refunds in some sort of order - receipt of refund claim perhaps? They are not trying to fob people off with vouchers and I'm really impressed with how they are dealing with bookings further ahead.

Hope you get your refund soon. 

badger09

minorman said:

Well, success.  The refund was sent on 16th March to one of my wife's accounts. As she is now at home we were able to collate all her statements. Unfortunately it did not show up on the statements due to some weird accounting by Barclays.  On this account the money went out and was later transferred back so Barclays systems decided not to record the out amount and then the in amount as it was the same amount.  Got that ?  Oh well. FOCL seem to have done as they promised. Job closed.

Glad to hear that.

So the fault wasn't with FOC after all, but with Barclays

crustyoldgit

UPDATE. I've received my refund at last, almost 3 months after requesting same which makes an absolute mockery of the ABTA rules. I have also come to the conclusion that Travel Insurance which actually covered cancellation by the cruise provider (something no insurance company will now offer) was also a complete waste of money. Their attitue . . . . claim under section 75 or submit a claim to ABTA. Claims under section 75 will only be considered after you've exhausted all other avenues and so one gets passed from pillar to post!

My advice to anyone considering an expensive holiday in the future is to ONLY book at the last possible moment, avoid any operator who insists on an expensive and worthless insurance policy and pay the lot by credit card. That way you can demand an instant "reversal" and not get sent from pillar to post!

badger09

crustyoldgit said:

UPDATE. I've received my refund at last, almost 3 months after requesting same which makes an absolute mockery of the ABTA rules. I have also come to the conclusion that Travel Insurance which actually covered cancellation by the cruise provider (something no insurance company will now offer) was also a complete waste of money. Their attitue . . . . claim under section 75 or submit a claim to ABTA. Claims under section 75 will only be considered after you've exhausted all other avenues and so one gets passed from pillar to post!

My advice to anyone considering an expensive holiday in the future is to ONLY book at the last possible moment, avoid any operator who insists on an expensive and worthless insurance policy and pay the lot by credit card. That way you can demand an instant "reversal" and not get sent from pillar to post!

Good to hear you've finally received your refund. 

To be fair to FOC & other travel companies who are actually making refunds, I don't think the ABTA 14 day refund rule could ever have envisaged a situation like COVID 19 where so many journeys all over the world have been affected at the same time and over such an extended period. So while it has been frustrating & a little worrying having to wait so long for refunds, I will not hesitate to use FOC again when I feel its safe to do so.

In fact we already had another cruise booked with them for November. FOC have cancelled any further scheduled payments until 28 days before departure and offered alternatives if we choose not to travel then. That seems fair to me so I'll stick with them.